System and method for secure five-dimensional user identification

ABSTRACT

A method for secure user identification is disclosed, comprising the steps of: creating a first user identification; uniquely associating the user identification with the user; recording, using the identification device, an unknown user&#39;s head from a range of positions and using illumination in different wavelengths; retrieving a second user identification; and comparing, using the identification device, the second user identification against the recording of the unknown user&#39;s head and a plurality of measured movements of the unknown user&#39;s head and hand to identify the unknown user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Application No. Date Filed Title Current Herewith SYSTEM AND METHOD FORapplication SECURE FIVE-DIMENSIONAL USER IDENTIFICATION is acontinuation of 16/928,928 Jul. 14, 2020 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECUREFIVE-DIMENSIONAL USER IDENTIFICATION which is a continuation of:16/279,692 Feb. 19, 2019 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR U.S. Pat. No. Issue DateSECURE FIVE-DIMENSIONAL 10,713,344 Jul. 14, 2020 USER IDENTIFICATIONwhich is a continuation of: 15/650,881 Jul. 15, 2017 SYSTEM AND METHODFOR U.S. Pat. No. Issue Date SECURE 5-D USER 10,210,320 Feb. 19, 2019IDENTIFICATION which claims benefit of, and priority to: 62/397,875 Sep.21, 2016 SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURE 5-D USER IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR SECURE 5-D USER IDENTIFICATION the entire specification ofeach of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Art

The disclosure relates to the field of information security, and moreparticularly to the field of user identification system security andprevention of circumnavigation of identification system security.

Discussion of the State of the Art

Many of the identification systems used today are easily spoofed orcircumvented. For example, shortly after several phone manufacturersannounced fingerprint readers, instructions appeared telling how to liftand reproduce fingerprints from phones to unlock them (example in Germanhttps://www.ccc.de/de/campaigns/aktivitaeten_biometric/fingerabdruck_kopieren).Other suggested circumvention methods include taking high resolutionpictures of people waving, then processing the finger prints etc.Similarly, iris scans can be duplicated with high-resolution imagesreproduced on suitable equipment.

What is clearly needed is an identification system and method wherein,at very small cost for the legitimate users, high security is generated,but illegitimate reproduction costs are prohibitive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, asystem and method for secure five-dimensional user identification.

The system and method disclosed herein consists in some aspects of abody-worn sensor, either on a strap, such as a wrist or ankle strap, oran arm implant, using near-field communication (NFC) or similar tocommunicate with the base system, and a unit with a camera viewing theface. That unit may be part of a head-worn display, such as glasses withheads up display, or a watch with a camera that can view the face whenthe user looks at the display. The watch is the ideal form, as it alsohas the body-worn aspect all in one unit. Said body-worn sensor is insome cases also used to monitor uninterrupted control of the device bythe legitimate user.

According to one aspect, a system for secure five-dimensional useridentification, comprising: a computing device comprising at least aprocessor, a memory, and a plurality of programming instructions storedin the memory and operating on the processor, wherein the programmableinstructions, when operating on the processor, cause the processor to:create a video recording of a user, wherein the user's head is recordedfrom a range of positions and the recording comprises segments recordedusing illumination in different wavelengths, is disclosed.

According to a further aspect and a relating to a preferred embodiment,a system for secure five-dimensional user identification is disclosed.The system comprises a computing user identification device comprisingat least a processor, a memory, and a plurality of programminginstructions stored in the memory and operating on the processor. Theprogrammable instructions, when operating on the processor, cause theprocessor to create a first user identification, comprising: a videorecording of a user's head, recorded from a range of positions and usingillumination in different wavelengths; a point cloud model of the user'shead, based on at least a portion of the video recording; athree-dimensional mesh model of the user's head, based on at least aportion of the video recording; a first motion signature comprising aplurality of head movements measured during the creation of the videorecording, the first motion signature being uniquely identifiable to theuser; and a second motion signature comprising a plurality of handmovements measured during the creation of the video recording, thesecond motion signature being uniquely identifiable to the user. Theprogrammable instructions further cause the processor to: uniquelyassociate the user identification with the user; securely store the useridentification; record an unknown user's head from a range of positionsand using illumination in different wavelengths; retrieve a second useridentification; and compare the second user identification against therecording of the unknown user's head and a plurality of measuredmovements of the unknown user's head and hand to identify the unknownuser.

According to another aspect and relating to a further preferredembodiment, a method for secure user identification is disclosed,comprising the steps of: creating a first user identification, using anidentification device comprising at least a processor, a memory, and aplurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operatingon the processor; uniquely associating the user identification with theuser; recording, using the identification device, an unknown user's headfrom a range of positions and using illumination in differentwavelengths; retrieving a second user identification; and comparing,using the identification device, the second user identification againstthe recording of the unknown user's head and a plurality of measuredmovements of the unknown user's head and hand to identify the unknownuser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate several aspects and, together withthe description, serve to explain the principles of the inventionaccording to the aspects. It will be appreciated by one skilled in theart that the particular arrangements illustrated in the drawings aremerely exemplary and are not to be considered as limiting of the scopeof the invention or the claims herein in any way.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram, illustrating a user's head and handholding a mobile device, according to one aspect.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram, illustrating a simplified human facewith eyes, nose, mouth, and blood vessels, according to one aspect.

FIG. 3 is an illustration, illustrating an exemplary strip of device,according to one aspect.

FIG. 4 is a graph diagram, illustrating interleaving of LED activitywith camera activity, according to one aspect.

FIG. 5 is a diagram, illustrating an exemplary abstract view of a head,according to one aspect.

FIG. 6 is a method diagram, illustrating an exemplary process for afacial recognition scanning and analysis system, according to oneaspect.

FIG. 7 is a method diagram, illustrating an exemplary process ofidentity verification, according to one aspect.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecturefor a client device.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an exemplary architecturalarrangement of clients, servers, and external services.

FIG. 11 is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardwarearchitecture of a computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, in a preferredembodiment of the invention, a system and method for securefive-dimensional user identification.

One or more different aspects may be described in the presentapplication. Further, for one or more of the aspects described herein,numerous alternative arrangements may be described; it should beappreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only andare not limiting of the aspects contained herein or the claims presentedherein in any way. One or more of the arrangements may be widelyapplicable to numerous aspects, as may be readily apparent from thedisclosure. In general, arrangements are described in sufficient detailto enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of theaspects, and it should be appreciated that other arrangements may beutilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and otherchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the particularaspects. Particular features of one or more of the aspects describedherein may be described with reference to one or more particular aspectsor figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which areshown, by way of illustration, specific arrangements of one or more ofthe aspects. It should be appreciated, however, that such features arenot limited to usage in the one or more particular aspects or figureswith reference to which they are described. The present disclosure isneither a literal description of all arrangements of one or more of theaspects nor a listing of features of one or more of the aspects thatmust be present in all arrangements.

Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the titleof this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or morecommunication means or intermediaries, logical or physical.

A description of an aspect with several components in communication witheach other does not imply that all such components are required. To thecontrary, a variety of optional components may be described toillustrate a wide variety of possible aspects and in order to more fullyillustrate one or more aspects. Similarly, although process steps,method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequentialorder, such processes, methods and algorithms may generally beconfigured to work in alternate orders, unless specifically stated tothe contrary. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may bedescribed in this patent application does not, in and of itself,indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. Thesteps of described processes may be performed in any order practical.Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite beingdescribed or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because onestep is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of aprocess by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that theillustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modificationsthereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its stepsare necessary to one or more of the aspects, and does not imply that theillustrated process is preferred. Also, steps are generally describedonce per aspect, but this does not mean they must occur once, or thatthey may only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm iscarried out or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some aspects orsome occurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in agiven aspect or occurrence.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of asingle device or article. Similarly, where more than one device orarticle is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a singledevice or article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle.

The functionality or the features of a device may be alternativelyembodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly describedas having such functionality or features. Thus, other aspects need notinclude the device itself.

Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimesbe described in singular form for clarity. However, it should beappreciated that particular aspects may include multiple iterations of atechnique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless notedotherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should beunderstood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code whichinclude one or more executable instructions for implementing specificlogical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations areincluded within the scope of various aspects in which, for example,functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed,including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending onthe functionality involved, as would be understood by those havingordinary skill in the art.

Conceptual Architecture

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary device strip 300, according to one aspect.Strip 300 may contain, according to a particular arrangement or intendeduse, a camera chip 301 and a white-light light-emitting diode (LED) 302,as well as a series of near- and far-infrared LEDs 303 a-n thathighlight various different types of blood vessels in the face under theskin and their oxygen levels as the user breathes (due to the IRabsorption and other properties of the skin, blood, and tissues). Insome cases, strip 300 may be built into a host computing device such as,for example, a smartphone, tablet, electronic access panel in a door orwall, a watch etc. and may be connect to the host device's internalelectronics. Strip 300 may also be configured as an add-on or accessorydevice that may have its own processor 12 (as shown in FIG. 8) and pluginto a host device, receive instructions from the host device andoperate in sync with it, either by using the host device's camera orusing the strip's camera, or both together in combination. Alternately,strip 300 may have its own power source and communicate wirelessly withother computing devices, or it could plug into a tablet, smartphone,computing device, or other host device to draw power and use thephysical connection for communication.

FIG. 4 shows a graph 400 of the interleaving of LED activity with cameraactivity, according to one aspect. Time activity lines 402 a-n mayinclude camera activity line C1, which shows camera activity (such asscanning or recording) occurring at regular intervals as time progresses401. Different LED activity lines (each of which may emit a differentspectrum range) such as L1, L2, etc. (only these lines are shown herefor clarity and simplicity; there may be any number of additional linesas desired) can be interleaved with one another for different camerascans so the camera may detect and record different visual details basedon the different wavelengths of lights that are in use. Activity lineL2, for example, may be interleaved with additional LEDs (not shown) andthus expose different blood vessels with different scans. Therefore,graph 400 can be expanded accordingly to include additional LEDs fordifferent wavelengths. Typically, a starting point may be a white lightLED and 905 nm near-infrared (NIR) for human veins. Because a typicalhardware camera can execute 60 scans per second over a wider range ofwavelengths, in a time span of about 2 seconds, two or three graphs ofvessels may be obtained easily. Graph 400 only shows a small fraction,both of time and of wavelengths, of what may be collected for the sakeof clarity. White light scans may be used between NIR scans to correctfor environmental factors. Also, during or between scans a user may beinstructed to move the camera, for example to obtain a full 3-D view ofa face, resulting in an acceptable scan from ear to ear, covering allthe vessels in the face.

FIG. 5 shows a highly abstracted view of a human head 500. As the head500 moves, a camera may see points 501 a-e in various differentpositions, depending on scan intervals, and a point cloud scan may beadjusted accordingly. A point cloud comprises a set of data points,usually defined by X, T, and Z coordinates in a three-dimensionalcoordinate system, which can be used to represent the external surfaceof an object. A point cloud may be created using 3-D scanningtechniques, as described previously in FIG. 4. Additionally, the cameraposition may change, depending on the motion of the user's hand, fromposition 502 a to 502 b and 502 c. To understand which part of thecamera motion is the result of the motion of the head (the head gait)and which part is from the motion of the camera in the hand, thepositions of background objects behind the subject may be compared. Forexample, one background object 503 may remain stable, while anotherbackground object 504 may appear to change positions from 504 a to 504b. By comparing different background object positions to one another,the camera can deduce which motions are based on camera motion and whichmotions are based on head motion. Thus, these different types of motionmay be separated in the point cloud analysis to accurately accommodateall motion.

Detailed Description of Exemplary Embodiments

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary diagram 100 of a user's head 111 and a hand104 holding a mobile device 101. According to various arrangements anduse cases, the device may be a smartphone 101 as shown, or it may be anyof a number of alternate devices such as (for example, including but notlimited to) a wrist watch as described below, or other mobile computingdevice. According to the aspect, the device may comprise a front-facingcamera 106 and additional LEDs 107, 108, and 109. Other devices used mayhave more or fewer LEDs, depending on the design and functions of theparticular device. Display 105 of device 101 faces the user, whichdisplay may show instructions for the user. Typically, when a personholds something, the hand experiences slight motions (it “wobbles”), asindicated by arrows 102 and 103. Also, when the person looks atsomething, the head experiences similar slight motions in variousdirections. Arrows 112, 113, 114, and 115 indicate these motions, theperson's natural idle head micro-movements, or “head gait”.

Facial recognition may be performed in three ways, each usingfive-dimensional recognition comprising 3-D facial recognition plusmicro-expression recognition and head gait analysis. The micro-movementspresent in a person's head gait may be imperceptible to the user andeven to an observer, but the muscles supporting the head are constantlyat work balancing the head. Such motions are exaggerated and noticeablein a person who suffers from Parkinson's disease or similar disorder.These natural micro-movements are called a head gait, and they occur tosome measurable degree in everyone.

Additionally, the system may use an active or passive implanted,skin-mounted, or near-skin sensor with near field communication (NFC) totrack bio activity and affinity preservation over long periods of time.This tracking mechanism and or body-worn sensor can also be used tomaintain a log of control of the user over his device at all times etc.Combined with either a PIN entry or an additional alternative protocolthis system can deliver very high-security identification with verylittle overhead for the user. Such a system may be applicable in manydifferent environments, such as, for example, industry networks,government, financial, medical, legal, gambling, or other fields.

In some cases, a system may use a computing device to create a videoclip of a user, recording the user's head in a range of positions andmotions, including the micro-movements in a user's head gait, andrecording parts in different wavelengths. The system may then create apoint cloud model of the user's head from the video and a 3-D mesh modelof the user's head and derive a signature from the recorded motions.Likewise, the system may track the user's hand motions, includingmicro-movements in those cases where a computing device is hand-held,using either the video motion vs. background or accelerometers built into determine hand motion and deriving a unique user-identifiablesignature from the recorded micro-movements. Additionally, framesrecorded with near infrared may be used to construct 3-D blood vesselmaps, and a graph of each section of the face, including the eyes, maybe derived, as well a recording of the heart rate, blood oxygen, etc.Then the system may encrypt and store securely all derived data,signatures, and other recordings. Further, the system may compare acurrent reading to a historical one and assess whether there is a match,to confirm or deny authenticity of the user's identification, includingverification of the stored data to secure it against tampering.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified exemplary diagram of a human face 200, witheyes 201 a, 201 b, nose 202, and mouth 203. Also shown are blood vessels204 a-n. These blood vessels can be made visible with different types ofinfrared light. Since the blood oxygen content of veins and arteries isnot the same, these vessels have a different appearance under infraredlight, and this optical variance may be used by various devices to showthe location and type of particular blood vessels. For example, aphlebotomist may use a device with an infrared light emitter todetermine the location of a blood vessel for a blood draw, or a nurse ordoctor may likewise use such a device to locate the best vessel in whichto insert an IV line.

Blood vessels in the face create a unique pattern in each individual—asunique as a fingerprint. While individual identification by fingerprintand also by the iris of the eye can be falsified, identification byfacial blood vessel pattern would be virtually impossible to falsify. Ifa person were to (for example) put on a mask of another person's facialblood vessel patterns, an infrared identification device wouldimmediately see that no blood is actually flowing through the vessels,as it does with each heartbeat. Also, such an additional layer wouldchange, however slightly, the contour of the face, so that a precise 3-Drecognition scan system would see that the facial contours are changedand would not register a match.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary process 600 of a facial recognition scanningand analysis system, according to one aspect. In step 602, an externalstart 603 initiates the scanning process. Typically, in step 604 thesystem displays instructions to a user, by such means a text, video,etc. The system downloads these instructions from, typically, localstorage 601. In step 605, the LEDs turn on so they can warm up and reachoptimal operation temperature for correct wave lengths. Then in step 606the recording sequence starts, while the instructions continue in step607 to prompt the user to move the camera as needed, left to right, upand down, etc. In step 608 the recording finishes and the user is givena “recording complete” message. In step 609 the system checks todetermine whether the data recording is satisfactory (“OK”). If the datais not satisfactory, the system loops back to step 604 and repeats theprocess. If the data is satisfactory, the system processes the data instep 610 and stores 612 the results in step 611. Keys of the activitiesmay be stored remotely in a cloud-based key store 614 and, as additionalsecurity, in a local key store 611 (which may optionally synchronize 613with a cloud-based store 614), so the system has a secure record of thescan and so it can authenticate identity verification.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary process 700 for identity verification,according to one aspect. In step 701, the system applies its 3-D facialrecognition algorithms from a point-cloud-to-mesh conversion to create a3-D recognition wire model. In step 702 the system executespoint-cloud-to-motion analysis of head motion. In step 703 the systemlikewise executes point-cloud-to-motion analysis of hand movement.Later, typically in step 705 or similar that may be invoked severaltimes during the processing, the system extracts those unique signaturesof the user's head and hand motion. In step 704 the system analyzes thenear and far infrared images of facial blood vessels to create a graphof the vessels, using techniques as described in the discussion of graph400, above. The system also analyzes pulse data of the arteries,including realistic blood flow and heart beat in a reasonable range, toverify that the images show the face of a living person. In step 705 thesystem extracts, encrypts and stores all the signatures. In step 706,the system determines whether the extracted data is from an initial scanor repeat scan . If an initial scan (yes), in step 707 the data isstored in data local data store 708. If data is from a repeat scan (no),in step 709 the system compares data from this scan to reference datafrom previous scans of this face. In step 710, the system determineswhether the current data is a match to its reference data. If the datadoes not match (no), the process terminates with a “no match” message instep 711. If the data matches (yes), in step 712 the system declares a“match” and approves whatever access or activity has been requested. Instep 713 keys may be activated and stored in cloud 714, as describedabove in the discussion of FIG. 6.

The combination of the various different security layers makes the costof an illegitimate reproduction prohibitive, as creating a rubber maskwith live blood vessels can be very expensive, since it needs to fiteach person. Further, such a mask would add thickness, thus distortingthe 3-D facial scan, unless the person wearing it has a much smaller(while similarly-shaped) face. Further, the pulse, pulse delays betweenleft and right side, between cheeks and eyes, etc. can be measured, andwill be almost impossible to replicate reliably.

Additionally, vessels in the eyes can be incorporated in the scans, tooptionally add additional complexity and protection againstfalsification. Further, the signatures need to allow for some changesover time, as both the size of the face, as well as the number ofvessels, particularly the veins, changes over time depending onlifestyle, disease, age, general health, etc., Therefore the systemneeds to allow for small updates from time to time.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented incomputer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.Methods of the present disclosure can be implemented via a computerprogram instructions stored on one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage devices for execution by a processor.Likewise, various processes (or portions thereof) of the presentdisclosure can be performed by a processor executing computer programinstructions. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implementedvia one or more computer programs that are executable on a computersystem including at least one processor coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a datastorage system, at least one input device, and at least one outputdevice. Each computer program can be implemented in any suitable manner,including via a high-level procedural or object-oriented programminglanguage and/or via assembly or machine language. Systems of the presentdisclosure may include, by way of example, both general and specialpurpose microprocessors which may retrieve instructions and data to andfrom various types of volatile and/or non-volatile memory. Computersystems operating in conjunction with the embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include one or more mass storage devices for storing datafiles, which may include: magnetic disks, such as internal hard disksand removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storagedevices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructionsand data (also called the “non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia”) include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks. Any of the foregoing canbe supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specificintegrated circuits) and other forms of hardware.

In some cases, a system may use a computing device to create a videoclip of a user, recording the user's head in a range of positions andmotions, including micro motions, and recording parts in differentwavelengths. The system may then create a point cloud model of theuser's head from the video and a 3-D mesh model of the user's head andderive a signature from the recorded motions. Likewise, the system maytrack the user's hand motions, including micro motions in those caseswhere a computing device is hand-held, using either the video motion vs.background or accelerometers built in to determine hand motion andderiving a signature from the recorded motions. Additionally, framesrecorded with near infrared may be used to construct 3-D blood vesselmaps, and a graph of each section of the face, including the eyes, maybe derived, as well a recording of the heart rate, blood oxygen, etc.Then the system may encrypt and store securely all derived data,signatures, and other recordings. Further, the system may compare acurrent reading to a historical one and assess whether there is a match,to confirm or deny authenticity of the user's identification, includingverification of non-tampering with the stored data. Furthermore, in somecases, tracing or body sensors maybe used to qualify the integrity ofthe validation computing device.

Hardware Architecture

Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented onhardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, theymay be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate userprocess, in a library package bound into network applications, on aspecially constructed machine, on an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card.

Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of the aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented on a programmable network-residentmachine (which should be understood to include intermittently connectednetwork-aware machines) selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in memory. Such network devices may havemultiple network interfaces that may be configured or designed toutilize different types of network communication protocols. A generalarchitecture for some of these machines may be described herein in orderto illustrate one or more exemplary means by which a given unit offunctionality may be implemented. According to specific aspects, atleast some of the features or functionalities of the various aspectsdisclosed herein may be implemented on one or more general-purposecomputers associated with one or more networks, such as for example anend-user computer system, a client computer, a network server or otherserver system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tablet computing device,mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, or other appropriate computingdevice), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or any othersuitable electronic device, router, switch, or other suitable device, orany combination thereof. In at least some aspects, at least some of thefeatures or functionalities of the various aspects disclosed herein maybe implemented in one or more virtualized computing environments (e.g.,network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or morephysical computing machines, or other appropriate virtual environments).

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown a block diagram depicting anexemplary computing device 10 suitable for implementing at least aportion of the features or functionalities disclosed herein. Computingdevice 10 may be, for example, any one of the computing machines listedin the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device capableof executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to oneor more programs stored in memory. Computing device 10 may be configuredto communicate with a plurality of other computing devices, such asclients or servers, over communications networks such as a wide areanetwork a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wirelessnetwork, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols forsuch communication, whether wireless or wired.

In one aspect, computing device 10 includes one or more centralprocessing units (CPU) 12, one or more interfaces 15, and one or morebusses 14 (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). Whenacting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU 12 maybe responsible for implementing specific functions associated with thefunctions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. Forexample, in at least one aspect, a computing device 10 may be configuredor designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU 12, localmemory 11 and/or remote memory 16, and interface(s) 15. In at least oneaspect, CPU 12 may be caused to perform one or more of the differenttypes of functions and/or operations under the control of softwaremodules or components, which for example, may include an operatingsystem and any appropriate applications software, drivers, and the like.

CPU 12 may include one or more processors 13 such as, for example, aprocessor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families ofmicroprocessors. In some aspects, processors 13 may include speciallydesigned hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories(EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, forcontrolling operations of computing device 10. In a particular aspect, alocal memory 11 (such as non-volatile random access memory (RAM) and/orread-only memory (ROM), including for example one or more levels ofcached memory) may also form part of CPU 12. However, there are manydifferent ways in which memory may be coupled to system 10. Memory 11may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, cachingand/or storing data, programming instructions, and the like. It shouldbe further appreciated that CPU 12 may be one of a variety ofsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) type hardware that may include additionalhardware such as memory or graphics processing chips, such as a QUALCOMMSNAPDRAGON™ or SAMSUNG EXYNOS™ CPU as are becoming increasingly commonin the art, such as for use in mobile devices or integrated devices.

As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to thoseintegrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobileprocessor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller,a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmablecircuit.

In one aspect, interfaces 15 are provided as network interface cards(NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of datapackets over a computer network; other types of interfaces 15 may forexample support other peripherals used with computing device 10. Amongthe interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relayinterfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces,graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types ofinterfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus(USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRE™, THUNDERBOLT™, PCI, parallel, radiofrequency (RF), BLUETOOTH™, near-field communications (e.g., usingnear-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fastEthernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA) orexternal SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition multimedia interface(HDMI), digital visual interface (DVI), analog or digital audiointerfaces, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speedserial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Point of Sale (POS) interfaces,fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like. Generally, suchinterfaces 15 may include physical ports appropriate for communicationwith appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include anindependent processor (such as a dedicated audio or video processor, asis common in the art for high-fidelity A/V hardware interfaces) and, insome instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).

Although the system shown in FIG. 8 illustrates one specificarchitecture for a computing device 10 for implementing one or more ofthe aspects described herein, it is by no means the only devicearchitecture on which at least a portion of the features and techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented. For example, architectures havingone or any number of processors 13 may be used, and such processors 13may be present in a single device or distributed among any number ofdevices. In one aspect, a single processor 13 handles communications aswell as routing computations, while in other aspects a separatededicated communications processor may be provided. In various aspects,different types of features or functionalities may be implemented in asystem according to the aspect that includes a client device (such as atablet device or smartphone running client software) and server systems(such as a server system described in more detail below).

Regardless of network device configuration, the system of an aspect mayemploy one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example,remote memory block 16 and local memory 11) configured to store data,program instructions for the general-purpose network operations, orother information relating to the functionality of the aspects describedherein (or any combinations of the above). Program instructions maycontrol execution of or comprise an operating system and/or one or moreapplications, for example. Memory 16 or memories 11, 16 may also beconfigured to store data structures, configuration data, encryptiondata, historical system operations information, or any other specific orgeneric non-program information described herein.

Because such information and program instructions may be employed toimplement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least somenetwork device aspects may include nontransitory machine-readablestorage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed tostore program instructions, state information, and the like forperforming various operations described herein. Examples of suchnontransitory machine- readable storage media include, but are notlimited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical mediasuch as optical disks, and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-onlymemory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is common in mobile devices andintegrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and “hybrid SSD” storagedrives that may combine physical components of solid state and hard diskdrives in a single hardware device (as are becoming increasingly commonin the art with regard to personal computers), memristor memory, randomaccess memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated that suchstorage means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardwaremodules that may be soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integratedinto an electronic device), or they may be removable such as swappableflash memory modules (such as “thumb drives” or other removable mediadesigned for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices),“hot-swappable” hard disk drives or solid state drives, removableoptical storage discs, or other such removable media, and that suchintegral and removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably.Examples of program instructions include both object code, such as maybe produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced by anassembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by forexample a JAVA™ compiler and may be executed using a Java virtualmachine or equivalent, or files containing higher level code that may beexecuted by the computer using an interpreter (for example, scriptswritten in Python, Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).

In some aspects, systems may be implemented on a standalone computingsystem. Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a block diagramdepicting a typical exemplary architecture of one or more aspects orcomponents thereof on a standalone computing system. Computing device 20includes processors 21 that may run software that carry out one or morefunctions or applications of aspects, such as for example a clientapplication 24. Processors 21 may carry out computing instructions undercontrol of an operating system 22 such as, for example, a version ofMICROSOFT WINDOWS™ operating system, APPLE macOS™ or iOS™ operatingsystems, some variety of the Linux operating system, ANDROID™ operatingsystem, or the like. In many cases, one or more shared services 23 maybe operable in system 20, and may be useful for providing commonservices to client applications 24. Services 23 may for example beWINDOWS™ services, user-space common services in a Linux environment, orany other type of common service architecture used with operating system21. Input devices 28 may be of any type suitable for receiving userinput, including for example a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone (forexample, for voice input), mouse, touchpad, trackball, or anycombination thereof. Output devices 27 may be of any type suitable forproviding output to one or more users, whether remote or local to system20, and may include for example one or more screens for visual output,speakers, printers, or any combination thereof. Memory 25 may berandom-access memory having any structure and architecture known in theart, for use by processors 21, for example to run software. Storagedevices 26 may be any magnetic, optical, mechanical, memristor, orelectrical storage device for storage of data in digital form (such asthose described above, referring to FIG. 8). Examples of storage devices26 include flash memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or the like.

In some aspects, systems may be implemented on a distributed computingnetwork, such as one having any number of clients and/or servers.Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown a block diagram depicting anexemplary architecture 30 for implementing at least a portion of asystem according to one aspect on a distributed computing network.According to the aspect, any number of clients 33 may be provided. Eachclient 33 may run software for implementing client-side portions of asystem; clients may comprise a system 20 such as that illustrated inFIG. 9. In addition, any number of servers 32 may be provided forhandling requests received from one or more clients 33. Clients 33 andservers 32 may communicate with one another via one or more electronicnetworks 31, which may be in various aspects any of the Internet, a widearea network, a mobile telephony network (such as CDMA or GSM cellularnetworks), a wireless network (such as WiFi, WiMAX, LTE, and so forth),or a local area network (or indeed any network topology known in theart; the aspect does not prefer any one network topology over anyother). Networks 31 may be implemented using any known networkprotocols, including for example wired and/or wireless protocols.

In addition, in some aspects, servers 32 may call external services 37when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer to additionaldata concerning a particular call. Communications with external services37 may take place, for example, via one or more networks 31. In variousaspects, external services 37 may comprise web-enabled services orfunctionality related to or installed on the hardware device itself. Forexample, in one aspect where client applications 24 are implemented on asmartphone or other electronic device, client applications 24 may obtaininformation stored in a server system 32 in the cloud or on an externalservice 37 deployed on one or more of a particular enterprise's oruser's premises.

In some aspects, clients 33 or servers 32 (or both) may make use of oneor more specialized services or appliances that may be deployed locallyor remotely across one or more networks 31. For example, one or moredatabases 34 may be used or referred to by one or more aspects. Itshould be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art thatdatabases 34 may be arranged in a wide variety of architectures andusing a wide variety of data access and manipulation means. For example,in various aspects one or more databases 34 may comprise a relationaldatabase system using a structured query language (SQL), while othersmay comprise an alternative data storage technology such as thosereferred to in the art as “NoSQL” (for example, HADOOP CASSANDRA™,GOOGLE BIGTABLE™, and so forth). In some aspects, variant databasearchitectures such as column-oriented databases, in-memory databases,clustered databases, distributed databases, or even flat file datarepositories may be used according to the aspect. It will be appreciatedby one having ordinary skill in the art that any combination of known orfuture database technologies may be used as appropriate, unless aspecific database technology or a specific arrangement of components isspecified for a particular aspect described herein. Moreover, it shouldbe appreciated that the term “database” as used herein may refer to aphysical database machine, a cluster of machines acting as a singledatabase system, or a logical database within an overall databasemanagement system. Unless a specific meaning is specified for a givenuse of the term “database”, it should be construed to mean any of thesesenses of the word, all of which are understood as a plain meaning ofthe term “database” by those having ordinary skill in the art.

Similarly, some aspects may make use of one or more security systems 36and configuration systems 35. Security and configuration management arecommon information technology (IT) and web functions, and some amount ofeach are generally associated with any IT or web systems. It should beunderstood by one having ordinary skill in the art that anyconfiguration or security subsystems known in the art now or in thefuture may be used in conjunction with aspects without limitation,unless a specific security 36 or configuration system 35 or approach isspecifically required by the description of any specific aspect.

FIG. 11 shows an exemplary overview of a computer system 40 as may beused in any of the various locations throughout the system. It isexemplary of any computer that may execute code to process data. Variousmodifications and changes may be made to computer system 40 withoutdeparting from the broader scope of the system and method disclosedherein. Central processor unit (CPU) 41 is connected to bus 42, to whichbus is also connected memory 43, nonvolatile memory 44, display 47,input/output (I/O) unit 48, and network interface card (NIC) 53. I/Ounit 48 may, typically, be connected to keyboard 49, pointing device 50,hard disk 52, and real-time clock 51. NIC 53 connects to network 54,which may be the Internet or a local network, which local network may ormay not have connections to the Internet. Also shown as part of system40 is power supply unit 45 connected, in this example, to a mainalternating current (AC) supply 46. Not shown are batteries that couldbe present, and many other devices and modifications that are well knownbut are not applicable to the specific novel functions of the currentsystem and method disclosed herein. It should be appreciated that someor all components illustrated may be combined, such as in variousintegrated applications, for example Qualcomm or Samsungsystem-on-a-chip (SOC) devices, or whenever it may be appropriate tocombine multiple capabilities or functions into a single hardware device(for instance, in mobile devices such as smartphones, video gameconsoles, in-vehicle computer systems such as navigation or multimediasystems in automobiles, or other integrated hardware devices).

In various aspects, functionality for implementing systems or methods ofvarious aspects may be distributed among any number of client and/orserver components. For example, various software modules may beimplemented for performing various functions in connection with thesystem of any particular aspect, and such modules may be variouslyimplemented to run on server and/or client components.

The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications ofthe various aspects described above. Accordingly, the present inventionis defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for secure user identification,comprising: creating a first user identification, using anidentification device comprising at least a processor, a memory, and aplurality of programming instructions stored in the memory and operatingon the processor, the identification comprising: a video recording of auser's head, recorded from a range of positions and using illuminationin different wavelengths; a point cloud model of the user's head, basedon at least a portion of the video recording; a three-dimensional meshmodel of the user's head, based on at least a portion of the videorecording; a first motion signature comprising a plurality of headmovements measured during the creation of the video recording, the firstmotion signature being uniquely identifiable to the user; and a secondmotion signature comprising a plurality of hand movements measuredduring the creation of the video recording, the second motion signaturebeing uniquely identifiable to the user; uniquely associating the useridentification with the user; recording, using the identificationdevice, an unknown user's head from a range of positions and usingillumination in different wavelengths; retrieving a second useridentification; and comparing, using the identification device, thesecond user identification against the recording of the unknown user'shead and a plurality of measured movements of the unknown user's headand hand to identify the unknown user.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe first motion signature further comprises a plurality of measuredmicro-movements.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second motionsignature further comprises measurements collected using a plurality ofnon-optical hardware sensors operating on the identification deviceduring the creation of the video recording.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein at least a portion of the video recording is recorded usingnear-infrared illumination, and wherein the near-infrared portion of therecording is used to construct blood vessel maps in three dimensions,and a graph of each section of the face including the eyes is derived,as well as the heart rate and blood oxygen of each section of the face.5. The method of claim 1, wherein all derived data, signatures, andother recordings are encrypted and stored securely.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein a current reading is compared to a historical one, andan assessment of a match can be made to confirm or deny authenticity ofidentification.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the authenticationincludes verification that the stored data has not been tampered with.8. The method of claim 1, wherein a body-worn sensor is used to monitoruninterrupted control of the device by the legitimate user